What It Was Like To Eat At The First Steakhouse

Table Of Content

• Old Homestead Steakhouse
• Early menus included some familiar foods
• What It Was Like To Eat At The First Steakhouse
• Flat Iron Steak Was Invented Way More Recently Than You Think

The only universal feature of these variations is that they are at least 2 inches thick. The Delmonico steak served at Delmonico's, an impressive 18-ounce cut of boneless ribeye, is easily that thick. It is priced at $75 and is still deemed the restaurant's specialty.

Old Homestead Steakhouse

Soon after it opened in 1827, the café became a valued part of New York's nascent dining scene. Delmonico’s is frequently billed as America’s first restaurant. Before Delmonico’s it was all lunch-pails and cold sandwiches at lunch, and perhaps an oyster refectory or two. And Delmonico’s is still there, still in downtown Manhattan, down where the city grid goes cockamamie and mountains of money are made, where steaks are cut thick and the lobster comes coddled in a puff pastry. In 1860, the restaurant held an event for some 3,000 people, one of which was Albert Edwards, Prince of Wales. Famously, the evening began with part of the building's dance floor collapsing.

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Early menus included some familiar foods

It seems unlikely that today’s Hudsons, Grants, and Taylors will frequent Delmonico’s. For one, that pied à terre apartment has been turned, like the rest of the building, into luxury condos. For another, the Continental cuisine offered by Delmonico’s is no longer the preferred cuisine of the famous and semi-famous, having been replaced by a sort of hyperbolic social media-friendly maximalism. (We see you, Bad Roman.) It’s all neon lights and monstera now. Max Tucci is the modern proselytizer for what he calls “the Delmonico way.” He’s an author who loves spinning tales of Delmonico’s in its glory years.

What It Was Like To Eat At The First Steakhouse

Thankfully, plenty of sources survive from this time, allowing us to paint a picture of what eating in America's first steakhouse was like. Ranhofer was a French chef who had learnt his trade in Paris. After moving to the United States, he soon found himself working at Delmonico's where he gained a reputation as America's first superstar chef. Ranhofer's excellent cooking was one of the main reasons he attained such fame.

Flat Iron Steak Was Invented Way More Recently Than You Think

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Another was his willingness to create dishes that catered to the tastes and whims of his regular patrons. The chef's creations included the now famous chicken à la king and lobster Newburg. Some people even suggest Ranhofer created the popular dessert, baked Alaska. As we've seen, dining at Delmonico's was an expensive business with patrons being charged over $1,750 when splashing out. Those wishing to hire out Delmonico's had to be prepared to spend even more. This was highlighted by a banquet held by Sir Samuel Morton Peto in 1865 at the steakhouse.

The New York Times' first restaurant review was published in 1859 and featured a round-up of the city's leading institutions, including Delmonico's. One of the unnamed reporter's first comments revolves around the steakhouse's reputation as a fine-dining destination. They note that such a reputation makes for intimidating dining; Delmonico's waiters were known to sneer if patrons asked for a low quality wine or did not order their dishes in the "correct" sequence. That being said, once patrons had ordered, they could expect the best service imaginable.

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During this event, various dishes were served, including salmon à la Rothschild, pigeon, and duck. This decadent feast supposedly cost Peto $20,000 — that's over $380,000 in today's money. It does very well with marinades and makes a great cut for tacos, whether you treat it as a slow-cooked meat or grill it. There's one steak cut, though, that's more recent — way more recent — to the point where it's barely older than the iPod. This is the flat iron steak, which isn't just one of the best cuts of steak for a dinner party, but also a triumph of meat science. Incredibly, those intrepid meat researchers succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

Even if you don’t care about Albert Einstein’s smoking pipe, you’ll have a great meal here. A huge painting depicting the haute monde overlooks a refurbished dining room. It’s a scene from sometime vaguely in the past, when people could still smoke inside. Another, newer, portrait on the opposite wall mirrors the Delmonico’s of today. It’s notably more diverse, and there’s even a smartphone on the table, but no cigarettes—or vapes—in sight. These days, you’re unlikely to find Taylor Swift sitting under the high ceilings and brand new bubble chandeliers, spooning Lobster Newburg into her mouth.

Heavy testing revealed one previously undiscovered cut

The balls often involved a nine course Delmonico's supper that was served on gold plates. One of the Patriarch Balls, held in 1882, featured exquisite dishes such as truffled turkey, foie gras pâté, and truffled capons. Due to Ranhofer's creativity, patrons at Delmonico's were treated to a menu rich in innovation. This proved to be as great an allure as the promise of exceptional steaks. Indeed, Delmonico's was famed for its ability to serve hundreds of guests with distinctly elaborate dishes, making it the foremost establishment when one aimed to impress.

In fact, Delmonico’s has gone through so many evolutions one wonders if the precursor would recognize its descendant as kin at all. Perhaps Delmonico’s is more an idea than it is a single lineage. Before these experiments, the chuck (aka the shoulder area of the cow) was considered good only for things like ground beef for hamburgers. But what Calkins and Johnson discovered in 2001 involved a particular part of the chuck called the top blade that had largely been overlooked for its high degree of connective tissue. It required a significant amount of skill from butchers, but the end result was more than worth it. It was probably of little comfort to Delmonico's patrons that a great deal of the restaurant's earnings were spent on running costs.

In The New York Times' 1859 review, it's suggested that the restaurant located in Broadway demanded an annual rent of $10,000, over $375,000 today. The most popular of all Delmonico's vegetable dishes spotlights the humble potato. Delmonico's potatoes, as the dish was known, was a simple dish of mashed potatoes covered in breadcrumbs and melted cheese. It was beloved by many patrons, most notably President Abraham Lincoln. Prior to Delmonico's, most Americans ate a cold, packed lunch — usually sandwiches they'd prepared in the morning. However, the restaurant's location in New York's commercial district soon saw locals exchanging their sandwiches for sit down, hot lunches consisting of French classics.